so president obama agreed to extend the tax cuts for two more years in exchange for congress extending federal emergency unemployment benefits. those cuts are expensive. if they're extended, by 2020, the bush era tax cuts will be responsible for more than half the total national debt. democrats insist that taxes go up for the wealthy, but stay in place permanently for those earning less than $250,000 a year. >> we need to stop the job-killing tax hikes, and we need to start cutting spending now. >> reporter: republicans refuse to play ball. they say no higher rates on the rich, no tax hikes on anyone. based on an ideology that calls for government to be as small as possible. its roots are as old as american politics but today the philosophy's main spokesman is this man, grover norquist, president of americans for tax reform. norquist's pledge, signed by almost all republicans in congress, forbids signatories for raising taxes ever, under any circumstances. things come to a head in the summer of 2011. republicans demand the government reduce its deficit as a condition for raising the na